Loosening Restrictions on Peptides While Banning Hemp?

Where's the fucking health or science sense in THAT?  We're talking about a group of unapproved, largely unstudied compounds that are mostly INJECTED into the body being pushed through without clinical trials.  This would basically be unprecedented in the course of U.S. medicine as far as I can recall.  Here's the list of specific peptides they're looking to approve (by "they" I mean Rob-rickety Fucking Kennedy, of course)

Various & sundry peptides still too unknown to have brand or even street names

This comes in the middle of the most embarrassing, pathetic trial of a public health official in any nation's history as we battle the biggest outbreak of cyclosporiasis (explosive diarrhea due to intestinal parasite) on Earth.  Once again, the U.S. is Ground Zero for a contagious disease, even as we put our public health officials on trial for {checks notes} doing too much during the deadliest disaster in American history.  Every other nation on Earth paid their citizens to stay home and not spread the disease, but we're tantruming about being asked nicely to wear masks and stay home for a few weeks. 

This year has also seen a return of screwworm in American cattle and the worst measles outbreak in 35 years.  A few people have died or experienced organ failure from consuming raw milk against all professional advice to the contrary (campylobacter & listeria).  Oh, and 20 million eggs have been recalled due to Salmonella contamination.  There's been more death and disease this year but I'll stop here because nobody seems to care much anyway.  

Seen this movie before...

Actually, no I won't.  The outrageous rate of cyclospora in the U.S where it's not even endemic raises the question:  what's causing it to spread unchecked & sicken so much of the population here compared to the rest of the (un)developed world?  Is it a lack of food safety in the fields down in Mexico where iceberg lettuce is grown?  Poor individual hygiene in our everyday lives?  (The disease has been linked to swimming pools and splash pads, as the parasite isn't killed by chlorine and apparently people don't know how to wipe properly or choose to drag babies with shitty diapers through these shared cesspools... or something.  I'd rather not think too hard about the details, honestly). 

The same thing happened with HIV/AIDS in the early days as well as COVID, the latter of which consistently sickened and killed more Americans than any other nationality for every single day of the pandemic.  How does a disease that started in the Congo (AIDS) or Wuhan (allegedly) get such a foothold in the U.S.A. to the point that it's more prevalent & deadly here than in all the overcrowded, impoverished nations on Earth... some of which lack clean water, indoor plumbing and other basic amenities?  Places like Manila, New Delhi, Haiti, Papua New Guinea (lacks water/sanitation services) & heavily polluted areas in Russia, China & other places contaminated with nuclear fallout or toxic immune-destroying chemicals... somehow the U.S. consistently ranks worse than ALL of those when it comes to infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, COVID, hospital-acquired fungal infections and now cyclosporiasis.  

The U.S. ranks among the worst nations on Earth for treatment-resistant fungal infection.

Warped Priorities

Yet even in the midst of this carnage, our oh-so-valiant government has found the time and energy to target the hemp/CBD industry and 7-OH products, with several states/cities banning kratom altogether.  A flood of hysterical media hit pieces warning of the diverse harms of pot, which apparently range from higher stress levels in the mornings to "slower cognitive gains" in teenage weed users (fucking duh) has become impossible to avoid lately.  But why?  Ope, here we go.  Finally, the real reason for this deluge of Reefer Madness-era fear mongering leaks out at the same time:  

As reported in Time, NY Post, Wall Street Journal & others.

Whoomp, there it is.  Peptides don't directly compete with alcohol, tobacco, caffeinated products or the recreational Rx mind-altering drugs pushed by pharma/doctors/private insurers, as they're not "fun" in the way THCa or kratom/7-OH are.  They could eventually be patented by pharma, either as Rx drugs or dietary supplements, unlike plant-based kratom or weed.  But in many ways, peptides are far more dangerous, the #1 way being that they're primarily injected into the body, which puts them directly into the bloodstream along with any contaminants or adulterants that might be present.  Allergic or sensitive to the peptide itself?  You're screwed because now it's in your body and there's no pumping it from your stomach or otherwise retrieving it.  Do not pass 1st pass metabolism, do not lose 50% oral bioavailability. 

I already covered the major known and unknown risks of peptides here.  And yes, there have been deaths.  Some of them horrific and agonizing.  The risks of injecting peptides are no different than shooting heroin, fentanyl or any other drug, as it's not the drug itself that causes all the complications but the injection process:  the dirty needle, the air bubble/embolism, the unknown adulterants/cutting agents in the wholly unregulated drug...




Anything But the Bare Minimum

Sure, YOU were the ones who were gonna make it happen.  Like the rest of your party didn't.

This peptide decision is understandably controversial af, so time will tell whether it comes to pass.  But the very notion that it MIGHT is offensive considering the current state of public health in this country.  All we really need is universal healthcare like the other developed nations--affordable access to GLP-1s and other lifesaving drugs, surgeries and treatments--not a flood of MK-ULTRA level Frankenstein drugs made in some Chinese guy's bath tub.  Healthy food in all communities; safe rec centers, gyms & ball fields for kids.  Decent medical centers in rural areas and inner cities.  You know, the things all proper countries have.

All plants from hemp to opium poppies should've BEEN legally available to consenting adults since they grow out of the fucking ground & are a less harmful option than their highly concentrated/potent synthetic cousins, while parents should be held responsible for the choices of their minor children.  Not you, me or the DEA.  The people who chose to crap them out.  Personal responsibility and all, right?  If your kid is morbidly obese, kills a car full of people while driving high on 7-OH or huffs computer duster and cannibalizes his English teacher, society doesn't lose access to those substances for legitimate uses--the parents of THAT child go on trial and the kid is placed in the appropriate treatment or detention facility as determined by a judge and/or jury. 

But no, that's too sane and simple.  We'd be lost without our constant stream of fear mongering & outrage porn.  What would we clutch our pearls over if not the latest drug craze sweeping the nation ®?  

For the (probably not) last time: if you can't see that this has NOTHING to do with the relative safety/risk of the drugs in question, you're beyond help.  These laws aren't made by people even smart enough to KNOW the risks/benefits of the things they're banning, so how could it be?  It's all about their own weird vendettas and biases (read: campaign funding & favors), none of which have a damn thing to do with protecting the public.  If they were, why are literally poisonous plants like scopolamine, Datura & castor bean (ricin) perfectly legal?  If you wanna ban plants you should've started there!

(For those convinced that 7-OH is all bad/no good and must be banned, here's Hamilton Morris's incredibly unemotional, sane take.  I've never personally used it and have no desire to, but banning it is a retarded idea, especially when something as dangerous as untested injectable peptides are about to be pushed through without due cause by our ex-junkie HHS Secretary.  There's a sentence I never thought I'd have to utter).  

🤢